Pavel Blazícek

• PhD
• Comenius University Bratislava

Aim: Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) is an enzyme accumulated in atherosclerotic plaques and causes plaques inflammation that can induce plaque rupture. The aim of this work is to compare serum Lp-PLA2 concentration in healthy subjects and in patients with arterial hypertension (AH), ischemic heart disease (IHD) and ischemic strok...

Aim:To assess an association between sonographic characteristic of carotid plaque instability and increased serum level of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2, marker of atherosclerotic plaque inflammation),in consideration of the fact that carotid plaque and Lp-PLA2 are reckoned to be the cardiovascular risk markers. Methods: We perfo...

ABSTRACT In two groups of apparently healthy non obese non smoking women aged 20 30 years 79 vegetarians 39 lacto ovo vegetarians plant food, dairy products, eggs, 40 semi-vegetarians as lacto ovo vegetarians with addition of white meat and fish consumption and 81 non vegetarians control group on traditional mixed diet were analyzed the dietary que...

Folic acid (vitamin B9) rich sources are leafy green vegetables, legumes, whole grains, egg yolk, liver, and citrus fruit. In winter and early spring, there could be insufficient supply of vegetables and fruit and thus lower intake of folic acid and possible deficient folic acid blood concentrations. The aim of the study was to assess serum vitamin...

Background: Nutrition is an important factor in prevention of degenerative age-related diseases. Health benefits of the functional food - cereal selenized onion biscuits with bioactive complex such as selenium in organic form, quercetin (onion), curcumin (curcuma) and catechins (green tea) were evaluated. Methods: In a group of randomly selected...

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) comprises a cluster of risk components which pre-dispose individuals to cardiovascular mortality. Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate the variability of biochemical and anthropometric characteristics, apolipoprotein E (APOE) and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) genes and their contribution to...

Abstract Background: Natural carbondioxide water is used in many european countries for balneotherapy also of diseases of locomotory appratus. In Slovakia this type of water is predominantly used in balneotherapy of cardiovascular diseases. Material and methods: We examined in this work the effect of series of carbondioxide baths administered dail...

Impaired insulin action, frequently found in essential hypertension (HT), is modified by other factors, such as higher age, accumulation of body fat, dyslipidaemia, impaired glucose metabolism and endothelial dysfunction. In addition, antihypertensive and insulin-sensitizing medication itself may significantly affect cardiovascular and metabolic mi...

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) is successfully used for the treatment of a variety of conditions and diseases. HBO therapy can be valuable for treating selected cases of hypoxic diabetic leg ulcers and chronic venous insufficiency. Exposure to high concentration of oxygen is known to induce damage to cells, possibly due to an increased oxygen radi...

The nutritionists introduce on the base of epidemiological and clinical studies that appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Aging belongs to the main risks of cardiovascular disease. Markers of age-related diseases (cardiovascular, metabolic syndrome...

Aim. Oxidative stress plays a role in the pathogenesis of ureteral obstruction. Methods. We studied parameters of oxidative status, levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), and contralateral (CL) kidney function in the rat model of unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO). The effect of Phlogenzym (12 mg/day orally); losartan (20 mg/l in drin...

Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), one of the key inflammatory chemokines, plays an important role in the initiation of atherosclerosis, and represents a risk for coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction. A recent animal study showed that MCP-1 gene might be a candidate gene for salt-sensitive hypertension in Dahl salt sensitive r...

The aim of our study was to analyse the relationships between hypertension, HSP60, oxidative stress, lipid profile and cardiometabolic risk in 126 females with arterial hypertension (AHW) and 39 normotensive females (AH-). Females with AH+ were significantly older and more frequently suffered from ischemic heart disease, angina pectoris, prior MI,...

A long-term vegetarian diet is generally poor in vitamin B group. The lack of vitamin B(12) together with vitamin B(6) and folate deficiency is closely related to homocysteine metabolism. Hyperhomocysteinemia was found to be associated with increased bone turnover markers and increased fracture risk. Thus, hyperhomocysteinemia, vitamin B(12) and fo...

The objective of this study was to examine the influence of ACE (I/D) genotypes on recognized risk variables for hypertension and Metabolic Syndrome in two ethnic population samples from Slovakia. A total of 150 Romany subjects (68 males and 82 females) and 167 Slovaks (45 males and 122 females) were examined. They were interviewed during a medical...

Panic disorder (PD) is a paroxysmal neuropsychiatric disorder with unclear etiology and obscure pathophysiology. Despite the frequency of its occurrence, PD still has no reliable laboratory markers. The sweat is a neglected human secrete reacting immediately to various neurovegetative challenges including psychic imupulses. We hypothesized a possib...

OP11 The relationship among vitamin B12, homocysteine and bone mineral density in vegetarian and nonvegetarian women Z. Krivosikovaa,*, V. Spustovaa , K. Stefikovaa , M. KrajcovicovaKudlackovab , M. Valachovicovab , T. Nemcovac , P. Blazicekd Abstracts / Bone 44 (2009) S234–S252 S239 a Department of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacotherapy, Slovak...

The purpose of this study was to assess clustering of Metabolic Syndrome components in aged Slovaks, and to investigate whether insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of the human angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene is associated with this syndrome. Data were available from 374 Slovak participants (200 females and 174 males) ranging in age betw...

Sympathoneural and adrenomedullary impairments have been suggested in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In the present study, sympathoneural and adrenomedullary responses to orthostasis were evaluated in eight female RA patients and in eight matched healthy controls. The testing consisted of sequence of stabilization period in supine positio...

The interrelationship between activity of sympathetic nervous system and metabolic risk factors in youth with hypertension (HT) has been poorly studied. The aim of our present study was to assess the interrelationship between metabolic risk factors, such as insulin resistance, concentration of plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1, and catecholam...

Due to limitations of the Friedewald formula, alternative methods for calculating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were suggested. We evaluated utility of these methods. Ninety three subjects free of coronary heart disease were considered. LDL-C was measured by the homogeneous method, and calculated by the Friedewald formula LDL-C = TC-H...

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that several specific environmental factors and candidate genes influence the human variation in blood pressure. The aim of this study was to investigate variables associated with blood pressure; with a particular emphasis on the differences in insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of the human angiotensin-...

Introduction: Hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy), is associated with atherosclerosis and decreased plasma HDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein A1. Association of vitamin B6, B12, folic acid with metabolism of cholesterol and cardiovascular risk were not appropriate studied. Methods: 445 consecutive Caucasian subjects were included into analysis. We analyzed...

The total Hcy, methionine, vitamin B12, folic acid and vitamin B6 blood concentrations were measured in apparently healthy adult subjects aged 20-30 years with three types of nutrition - 52 normal weight subjects of general population on traditional mixed diet (non-vegetarians), 52 normal weight vegetarians and 24 overweight and obese non-vegetaria...

The relationship of plasma concentration and intake of vitamin C was measured in a randomly selected group of 368 apparently healthy adult subjects of two nutritional regimens: traditional mixed diet (general population, n=187) and vegetarians (n=181). The condition of protective plasma concentration over 50 micromol/l (50.3-89.4 micromol/l), the v...

The redox state of glutathione has been used as indicator for the redox environment of the cell. To investigate relationships between the redox environments, the SOD activity, total antioxidant status and the oxidation stress markers production (MDA and lipofuscin). Individuals with Down syndrome and age-matched healthy controls were enrolled into...

A vegetarian diet results in higher intake of vitamins and micronutrients, which - although providing antioxidant defence - may lead to deficiency in other micronutrients involved in DNA metabolism and stability (such as vitamins belonging to the B group). The principal difference among various vegetarian diets is the extent to which animal product...

Recent studies implied that low-density lipoprotein (LDL) modified predominantly by oxidation or glycation, significantly contributes to the formation of atherosclerotic lesions. In contrast to oxidized LDL (ox-LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) is able to prevent accumulation of ox-LDL in arterial walls. This antiatherogenic property of HDL is a...

Low-density lipoproteins (LDLs), when modified by free radicals derived from artery wall cells, induce atherosclerosis. In contrast to oxidized LDL (ox-LDL), high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) are able to prevent atherosclerosis through a protein with antioxidant properties, paraoxonase 1 (PON1). The purpose of this study was to explore the associati...

The influence of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotypes on plasma lipid levels and interaction with other environmental factors was determined in two Slovakian population samples; 146 Romany and 351 Slovak individuals. The two samples differ significantly in the distribution of E3/3 genotypes (p<0.014) and E3/2 (p<0.035). Analysis of variance did not re...

Diets rich in carbohydrates with a low glycemic index and with high fiber content are associated with flat post-prandial rises of blood glucose, minimal post-prandial insulin secretion and maintenance of insulin sensitivity. Protective food commodities in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance syndrome or diabetes are crucial...

Oxidative stress plays an important role in the pathogenesis of numerous chronic age-related free radical-induced diseases. Improved antioxidant status minimizes oxidative damage to DNA, proteins, lipids and other biomolecules. Diet-derived antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E, carotenoids and related plant pigments are important in antioxidat...

There is no reliable method currently available to predict malignant potential of pheochromocytoma based on conventional histology or genetic, molecular or immunohistochemical markers. Metastasis suppressor genes affect the spread of several cancers and, therefore, may provide promise as prognostic markers or therapeutic targets for malignant pheoc...

High sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) is a proven method to better predict the cardiovascular risk and target therapeutic interventions. Serum concentrations of hsCRP were measured in an adult apparently healthy population aged 19-75 years of different nutrition: a vegetarian group (lacto- and lacto-ovo-vegetarians who consumed plant food, da...

Determinants of total homocysteine involve demographic (age, sex, ethnic origin), genetic (enzymatic defects of metabolic homocysteine pathways) and acquired factors (deficiency of B-group vitamins, state of health, lifestyle). Plasma levels of total homocysteine and serum levels of vitamin B12, folic acid, vitamin B6 were measured in adult apparen...

Changes in plasma levels of epinephrine (EPI) and norepinephrine (NE) were investigated in humans exposed to physical exercise (WL), to psychic stressor (mental arithmetic test, MAT), and to oral glucose administration (oGTT) before and during a stay in microgravity (real space flight, SF) or in simulated microgravity (head-down bed rest, HDBR). A...

Lipid and non-lipid cardiovascular risk parameters (cholesterol, HDL- and LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, homocysteine, C-reactive protein, insulin resistance) and data about blood pressure, smoking, body mass index were assessed in two ethnic groups aged 19-35 years--the Gypsy group (n=122) and the Slovak group (n=137) of two regions with a high d...

Antioxidants and antioxidant enzymes protect living organisms against the attack of reactive oxygen species. An adequate daily intake of the individual antioxidants is therefore important to prevent the cells against oxidative damage. We investigated the effect of a modest dietary supplementation with a mixture of antioxidant nutrients (100 mg vita...

The objective of this study was to examine plasma homocysteine levels and C677T methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene polymorphism in two ethnic groups from Slovakia. The samples consisted of general Slovak-Romany population (68 men and 81 women) from Southwestern Slovakia and the Slovak-Caucasians (174 men and 177 women) who participate...

To compare the levels of serum cholesterol with thyroid function as estimated by the level of thyrotropin and free thyroxine with possible participation of thyroperoxidase antibodies in large number of adults examined within large field surveys focused on the evaluation of thyroid status of Slovak rural population. Serum level of cholesterol and th...

Enhanced oxidative stress is involved in the progression of renal disease. Since angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) have been shown to improve the antioxidative defence, we investigated, in patients with nondiabetic nephropathy, the short-term effect of the ACEI ramipril on parameters of oxidative stress, such as advanced glycation end...

An improved antioxidant status (overthreshold plasma values of essential antioxidants) minimizes the oxidative damage. The levels of antioxidant vitamins C and E, ,,antioxidant" trace elements selenium, zinc, copper and iron were measured in two groups of adults with different nutritional habits--alternative (vegetarians; n=110) and traditional (mi...

Prevalence of mild hyperhomocysteinemia in vegetarians and vegans is a consequence of vitamin B12 deficiency. Clinical study of homocysteine reduction by vitamin B12 consisted of subjective healthy adults on alternative nutrition (n = 9) with vitamin B12 deficiency and with mild hyperhomocysteinemia. Vitamin B12 treatment was implemented by 5 intra...

Vitamin B12, folate and vitamin B6 are the main determinants of homocysteinemia. These B-group vitamins influence two metabolic pathways of homocysteine reduction, which prevail in dependence to methionine intake. Transsulfuration (vitamin B6) dominates under condition of overnutrition with prevalence of animal food sources, remethylation (vitamin...

Changes of plasma hormone levels were investigated in human subjects after exposure to physical exercise (WL) and insulin induced hypoglycemia (ITT) during apace flight or after head down bed rest (HDBR). Exaggerated responses of plasma epinephrine (EPI), norepinephrine (NE) and aldosterone (ALD) were observed after WL during space flight as compar...

Hyperinsulinemia and other associated metabolic factors, including hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and central obesity lead to increased cardiovascular risk and indicate a metabolic syndrome. Levels of fasting insulin were measured in an ethnic Gipsy minority group (n=149) and compared to the majority Slovak population (n=197). The avera...

The decreased oxidizability of plasma lipoproteins is related to the increased vitamin E intake and its association with a relatively lower incidence of coronary heart disease has been proposed. We investigated the effect of the in vivo vitamin E supplementation on the oxidizability of serum lipids in patients with ischemic heart disease and a mode...

Homocysteine has a pro-oxidative activity. This amino acid, a lipid-independent vascular disease risk factor, might cause atherosclerosis by damaging the endothellium either directly or by altering the oxidative status. Levels of plasma homocysteine and vitamin C concentrations were determined in the adult majority population of Southern Slovakia (...

To determine the activity of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during labour by characterizing changes in maternal serum levels of lipid peroxidation end-products--MDA and lipofuscin during labour and the early post-partum period. We also tried to evaluate the relationship between levels of lipid peroxides and some clinical characteristics of labour. P...

In adults, advanced glycation end products (AGEs) rise slowly in tissues and circulation during aging, and accumulate at an accelerated rate both in diabetes and chronic renal insufficiency (CRI). We aimed to investigate the pattern of AGE accumulation in children/adolescents with CRI and on renal replacement therapy by dialysis and transplantation...

Glutathione S-transferase genotypes GSTT1, GSTM1, GSTP1 were characterised in 155 middle-aged men and compared with parameters of oxidative stress at the level of DNA and lipids, with antioxidant enzymes, and with plasma antioxidants in smokers and non-smokers. Smokers had on average significantly lower levels of Vitamin C, beta-carotene and beta-c...

Thirty-seven individuals with Down syndrome (DS) were divided into four age categories: (i) 1 to < 6 years, (ii) 6 to < 13 years, (iii) 13 to < 20 years, and (iv) over 20 years. Activities of antioxidant enzymes found in individual age categories were different, but the differences between age groups were not statistically significant. We confirmed...

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are formed from proteins and peptides by non-enzymatic glycation or glycooxidation. AGEs are formed slowly during aging, and they accumulate in circulation and tissues in diabetes and chronic renal failure. Kidney plays a key role in the disposal of AGEs. Aim of this study was to verify the hypothesis that, ac...

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are formed on proteins and peptides slowly during aging, and they accumulate in circulation and tissues in diabetes and chronic renal failure. Except for nonenzymatic glycation, enhanced oxidative/carbonyl stress is supposed to participate in their formation. The kidney plays a key role in disposal of AGEs, pa...

Kidney diseases are associated with the accumulation of various uremic toxins increasing the oxygen free radical (OFR) activity with a number of serious consequences. One of them could be the impairment of DNA stability with the increased formation of DNA breaks. The study was performed in 4/6 kidney ablation rat nephropathy lasting for three month...

Values of homocysteine and lipid parameters were measured in groups of adults consuming alternative nutrition (vegetarians/lactoovo/, vegans) and compared with a group consuming traditional diet (omnivores, general population). Frequency of hyperhomocysteinemia was 53% in the vegans group, 28% in vegetarians vs. 5% in omnivores. In conditions of lo...

Vitamin B(12), folate, and vitamin B(6) are the main determinants of homocysteinemia. The vegan diet provides no vitamin B(12), but also less strict forms of alternative nutrition may suffer from a deficit of this vitamin. The plasma homocysteine level was measured in alternative nutrition groups of adults (lacto- and lactoovovegetarians, n = 62; v...

Exercise, insulin-induced hypoglycemia and oral glucose loads (50 g and 100 g) were used to compare the production of malondialdehyde and the activity of antioxidant enzymes in healthy subjects. Twenty male volunteers participated in the study. Exercise consisted of three consecutive work loads on a bicycle ergometer of graded intensity (1.5, 2.0,...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of diet and 677 C-->T mutation of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene on plasma homocyst(e)ine concentrations in an adolescent population (113 males, age: 14.2+/-2.4 years; 202 females, age: 14.9+/-2.1 years) from a region characterized by high cardiovascular mortality. Homocys...

The distinct melatonin rhythm with higher concentrations during the darktime was found in plasma of both control patients and patients with colorectal carcinoma. Moderate surgery did not induce any changes in plasma melatonin levels, but a pronounced increase in both the day- and nighttime melatonin concentrations was found after surgical treatment...

To investigate further a putative role of dopamine in control of food restriction-induced behavioural stereotypies, chickens were fed during rearing on either a daily restricted ration recommended by a breeding company, twice the recommended restricted ration, or ad libitum food. They were killed at 60 days of age and their excised brains were diss...

Effects of single or repeated insulin or 2-deoxy-D-glucose administration on adrenal tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA and protein levels were examined in rats. Insulin produced hypoglycemia and an elevation in plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine levels. A significant increase (3-5-fold) in tyrosine hydroxylase mRNA levels was found at 5 h, decreasing to...

In previous studies the activity of the sympathoadrenal system (SAS) in cosmonauts during space flights was evaluated by measuring plasma catecholamines (CA) levels and urinary CA and their metabolites concentrations. Plasma CA levels are accepted indicators of SAS activity, however, they are determined by the plasma clearances as well as the rates...

1. Melatonin administration in drinking water (5 micrograms/ml) to Japanese quail resulted in a 20-fold increase of plasma melatonin levels in comparison with the control, day time concentration (0.34 +/- 0.05 vs 6.88 +/- 1.10 nmol/l). 2. Plasma triiodothyronine levels increased (5.8 +/- 0.93 vs 7.97 +/- 0.64 nmol/l), corticosterone decreased (28.0...

The activity of the sympathoadrenal system in cosmonauts was studied by measuring plasma and urinary catecholamines and their metabolites and conjugates. The appliance Plasma 02 was used for collecting, processing, and storing blood and urine samples from the cosmonauts during the course of a 25-day flight on board the station Mir. Plasma and urine...

In a cross-over study, the effect of 25 mg urapidil infusion (U, Ebrantil 25, Byk-Gulden, FRG) on serotonin (5HT) metabolism and platelet aggregation (PA) was compared with the effect of placebo (P) in 7 patients with essential hypertension. No changes in 5HT and 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid (5HIAA) plasma levels and platelet 5HT content were observed...

The gonadotropin receptors are located within the matrix of the plasma membrane. There is a growing body of evidence indicating that the fluidity of the lipid environment in which a receptor is embedded can change the properties of the latter. In previous studies we have shown that the LH/hCG receptor in rat undergoes variations which depend on the...

The specific binding of [125I]hCG to rat testicular membrane preparations was investigated as a function of membrane fluidity changed by lipids. Membrane fluidity was measured either by fluorescence depolarization of diphenylhexatriene or ESR spectra of I(1,14), I(12,3) and CAT 16 incorporated into the membrane. Incubation of membrane with choleste...

Incubation of testicular membranes with cholesteryl-hemisuccinate resulted in an increase of both the membrane microviscosity and [125I]hCG specific binding. 14C-labelled cholesterol as well as fatty acids were effectively incorporated into membrane preparations. Insertion of unsaturated fatty acids (cis-vaccenic, linoleic, oleic, linolenic and ara...

After a 18.5-day space flight on Cosmos-1129 rat adrenals were investigated for the concentration of catecholamines and activity of enzymes involved in their synthesis, i.e. tyrosine hydroxylase, dopamine-beta-hydroxylase, and phenyl ethanol amine-N-methyl transferase. It was found that inflight the sympatho-adreno-medullary system of rats was not...

This chapter discusses the effect of space flight in biosatellites on sympathetic-adrenomedullary activity of rats. The state of weightlessness, which is a highly nonphysiological situation for human beings as well as animals, has become one of the greatest medical problems of prolonged space flights. The chapter discusses studies for examining whe...

Summary Plasma renin activity (p.r.a.) was studied in 37 patients with acute renal insufficiency and in 20 healthy subjects. Significant increase of the p.r.a. in the oliguric phase of acute renal failure could be established. The p.r.a. decreased in the diuretic phase of this syndrome. No straight correlation between elevated p.r.a. on the one han...

The original macromethod of Boucher et al. for the determination of plasma renin activity was compared with a modified micromethod of the authors. The results obtained using both biologic methods were practically identical. The preferable application of the micromethod in certain clinical situations is noted.